US2026389A - Safety lock for automobile inside door handles - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 31, 1935. J. P. JOHNSON ET AL SAFETY LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILE INSIDE DOOR HANDLES Filed Nov. 16, 1952 Patented Dec. 31, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE John Peter Johnson and Oscar Christensen, Shelton, Conn.

Application November 16, 1932, Serial No. 642,874

Claims.

This invention relates to looks, and more particularly to vehicle door locks such as the looks or latches of automobile doors that have interior and exterior operating handles.

The doors of automobiles are generally adapted to be locked from the interior or exterior of the body, and in some instances, may be simultaneously locked from the exterior of the vehicle so as to prevent unauthorized entrance the doors be locked in such a manner that unauthorized or accidental exit from the vehicle is prevented.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a locking mechanism that will prevent unauthorized or accidental 'exit through a vehicle door.

Another object is to provide such a mechanism that Will act upon the interior handle of a vehicle door to prevent its normal operation of unlocking and unlatching the door.

Still another object is to provide locking means for the interior handle of a vehicle door, which, when in operable position will not interfere with 5: the operation of an exterior handle to open the door.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side View of a portion of a'vehicle door to which an embodiment of our invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a partial face view of the latch edge 7 of the door;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a handle locking mechanism embodying the features of this invention, the door being generally sectioned on line 33 of Fig. 2, and

4.0 Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

The door locking and latching device selected.

to illustrate the features of this invention is of a type wherein a latch bolt l9, mountedin a casing H, may be retracted against action-of a spring 45 i2, by an exteriorly disposed handle l3, through an arm l4, connected to the handle [3, and engaging the latch bolt lfl in a recess l5 formed therein to permit opening of a door It in which this mechanism is mounted. An interiorly disposed handle is provided to retract bolt H) from the inside of the vehicle. The handle I! is operatively connected by means of a shaft l8, journaled in the door Hi, to a lever 19, which in turn is connected to latch bolt Ill by a latch strap 55 secured to the latch bolt, in this instance,

thereinto. In some instances, it is desirable that by a pin 2|. The strap 20 is provided with a slot 22 in which a pin or bolt 23 provided on lever arm I 9 is permitted to slide, and by which structure the strap 20 is permitted to move when the bolt i8 is operated by handle l3 and Without moving handle 11.

The handle locking mechanism embodying the features of this invention is arranged to act upon handle ll through lever is to prevent actuation of the latch bolt l0 thereby; In this instance, lever I9 is provided with a portion extending beyond the end thereof, which is secured to strap 29. A disk 25 is eccentrically mounted upon a shaft 2'6, which extends into the door Hi from its latch edge face and is disposed below the latch operating mechanism above described. The shaft 2 5 is journaled at its inner end in a bracket 21 and retained against endwise movement by a collar 28. The disk 25 and shaft 26 are so disposed in respect to the lever arm l9 that upon ro tating shaft 26 a portion of the disk 25, due to being eccentrically mounted upon said shaft, will engage the lever arm I9 to prevent movement thereof into its bolt retracting position. In this instance, the disk 25 is rotated into the path of movement of the portion 24 provided upon the lever l9. v

At the latch edge of the door It, the shaft 26 is journaled in the material of the door and its outer end extends into a recess or counterbore 29, formed in the'latch edge face of the door. A shaft operating member 39 is, in this instance, secured to the outer end of shaft 25 and while this is preferable, the shaft could be operated by other means. Member 3!! is disposed wholly within the recess Hand, in this instance, is in the form of a diskv having a rib extending outwardly from its outer face, which rib may be interrupted to form diametrically aligned thumb and finger engaging lugs 3i and 32.. The bottom wall 33 of recess 29 is provided with an opening through which a spring pressed plunger 34 extends into the recess and engages the inner face of member 30. The plunger may be disposed in a container 35 and acted upon by a compression spring 36, as shown in Fig. 3.

Depressions may be formed in the inner face of member 30 to receive the end of plunger 34 whereby the locking disk 25 will be retained in position toengage lever I9, or in a position where it will permit the lever I9 to swing into latch bolt operating position. The lug 3! may be pointed, as at 31, to visually indicate the position of the locking disk 25.

By the provision of the mechanism above described, the user of a vehicle may turn the member 30 to set disk 25 into the dotted position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, wherein it will interfere with the normal latch retracting action of the interior handle I!- by engagement with lever arm IS, without interfering with the latch retracting action of the exterior handle l3, and whereby unauthorized or accidental exit from the vehicle will be prevented. The novel mechanism of this invention is inexpensive to manufacture, efficient in use, and may be readily applied to a vehicle door. This mechanism may be indefinitely left in operative position without interfering with the opening and closing of the door by means of the exterior handle l3.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to the details shown but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a latch mechanism, a latch casing having a portion disposed at an edge face of a door, a retractable latch bolt in said casing adapted to extend from said casing portion, a handle adapted to be secured upon a door and operatively connected to said latch bolt to retract the same, and means disposed outside of said casing and operable on said handle to prevent operation thereof to retract said latch bolt without interfering with the retraction of said latch bolt, and means to operate said first mentioned means, said last named means disposed adjacent said casing portion and being mountable in the edge face of a door at which said casing portion is disposed.

2. In a vehicle door latch mechanism, a latch casing having a portion disposed at an edge face of a door, a retractable latch bolt in said casing, adapted to extend from said casing portion, a swingable handle connected to said latch bolt to retract the same, and rotatably mounted means movable into position to interfere with the swinging movement of said handle to prevent its latch bolt retracting action, and means to rotate said rotatable means, said last named means disposed adjacent said casing portion and being mountable in the edge face of the door at which said casing portion is disposed.

3. In combination with a vehicle door, a latch casing, a retractable latch bolt in said casing, an interior handle on said doo'r, means to connect said handle to said latch bolt to retract the same, means mounted in said door without the casing and rotatable into position to engage said connecting means to prevent latch bolt retraction by said handle, and means disposed in an edge face of said door for operating said rotatable means.

4. In combination with a vehicle door, a latch casing, a retractable latch bolt in said casing, an interior handle on said door remote from said casing, means to connect said handle to said latch bolt to retract the same, means rotatably mounted below said handle and within said door and movable into position to engage said connecting means to prevent latch bolt retraction by said handle, and means disposed at an edge of said door to operate said rotatably mounted means.

5. In combination with a vehicle door, a latch casing, a retractable latch bolt in said casing, an interior handle on said door remote from said casing, means to connect said handle to said latch bolt to retract the same, means rotatably mounted below said handle and within said door 10 but without said casing and movable into position to engage said connecting means to prevent latch bolt retraction by said handle, and means disposed in an edge face of said door and connected to said rotatable means to rotate the same. 5

6. In a vehicle door, a handle swingably mounted on said door, a lever mounted within said door and swingable with said handle, rotatable means disposed in said door to rotate into and out of lever engaging position, and means dis- 20 posed at an edge of said door to operate said rotatably mounted means.

'7. In a vehicle door, a handle swingably mounted on said door, a. lever mounted within said door and swingable with said handle, rotat- 5 able means disposed in said door to rotate into and out of lever engaging position, and a member countersunk in an edge face of said door and connected to said rotatable means to rotate the same. 0

8. In a vehicle door, a handle swingably mounted on said door, a lever mounted within said door and swingable with said handle, a shaft rotatably mounted in said door, a member movable by said shaft into and out of lever en- 5 gaging position, and a member disposed in an edge face of said door and connected to said shaft to move said lever engaging member into and out of lever engaging position.

9. In combination with a vehicle door, a latch o casing, a retractable latch bolt in said casing, an interior handle on said door, means to connect said handle to said latch bolt to retract the same, means in said door rotatable into position to engage said connecting means to prevent 5 latch bolt retraction by said handle, means disposed on an exterior portion of said door which is covered when said door is in closed position for operating said rotatable means and a detent to releasably hold said last-named means against 50 movement.

10. In combination with a door, a latch casing, a retractable latch bolt in said casing,

a handle mounted on said door, means to connect said handle to said bolt to retract the same 55 including a swinging lever mounted within the door, means in said door movable into position to engage said lever to prevent a bolt retracting movement thereof, and means disposed in an edge face of the door for operating said movable 50 means, said lever within the door having a lostmotion connection with the latch bolt.

JOHN PETER JOHNSON.

OSCAR CHRISTENSEN. g5

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